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Since 1998, Cohen has been professor of Russian Studies and History at New York University, where he teaches a course titled "Russia Since 1917." He previously taught at Princeton University. He has written several books including those listed below. He is also a CBS News consultant as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Cohen has a son and a daughter from his first marriage to opera singer Lynn Blair, from whom he is divorced. Cohen is now married to Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the progressive magazine The Nation, where he is also a contributing editor. They have one daughter.

Writings and views about the Soviet Union

Cohen's first book, published in 1973 and republished in 1980, was a biography of Nicolai Bukharin, a Bolshevik leader who was purged and executed under Stalin.[9] During the Cold War, Cohen was critical of western hawks, but also of the Soviet government, which banned him from visiting the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1985.[9] He supported the perestroika reform program of Mikhail Gorbachev.[9]

Views on the Russian Federation

Ukraine

During the 2014 unrest in Ukraine, Cohen drew criticism for his "pro-Russian" views[10] with sources describing him as an apologist for Putin[11][12] and the Russian government.[10] Cohen personally describes himself as an American "dissenter"[13] and argues that the media stifle anyone who even tries to understand the situation from the Kremlin's perspective while stigmatizing them as Putin apologists for doing so.[13]

In an article in The Nation, Cohen stated that the US political-media establishment was silent about "Kiev's atrocities" in the Donbass region.[14] His article was, in turn, criticized by Cathy Young as "error-riddled" narrative and "embarrassing" repetition of Kremlin propaganda.[9]

In 2015, the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) backed out of a fellowship deal that would bear Cohen's name after some ASEEES members objected to it on the grounds that Cohen is a "mouthpiece for a mass murderer". Even the scholars who supported Cohen expressed hope that in the future, Cohen's views on the Ukraine conflict would move in the direction of "more richness, complexity, and believability."[15]

US-Russia relations

Cohen has argued in The Nation that the USA continued the Cold War after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, without US leaders acknowledging that they were doing so.[16] He says that a flawed interpretation of an "American victory" and a "Russian defeat" since the time of Bill Clinton had led to treating post-communist Russia like a defeated nation, even though Russia still possesses weapons of mass destruction inherited from the USSR. Cohen says that this "triumphalism" led to the expectation that Russia would submit completely to American foreign policy.[16] Public shows of friendship like those between Clinton and Boris Yeltsin were without real value taking into account the real background, according to Cohen.[16] Cohen argues that Clinton, contrary to the promise of his predecessor, extended NATO eastward and implemented a strategy of containment. Russia inevitably reacted with suspicion. Moreover, Cohen cites the cancellation of the ABM Treaty in 2002 and the refusal of admission to the WTO at the G8-summit in Saint Petersburg 2006. Cohen also criticises the "pointless demonization" of Vladimir Putin as an "autocrat".[16][17]

In an interview given in July 2015, Cohen said that Putin's handling of the crisis in Ukraine—his annexation of Crimea and his support for rebel fighters in the east—was a reaction to aggressive behavior of the United States and its allies, when they supported the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych.[7] Cohen went on to say that even if Putin's reaction was also aggressive, the US should now negotiate with Russia to avoid escalation of the conflict.[7]

In 2015 Cohen and other intellectual colleges reestablished the American Committee on East-West Accord, a Pro Détente advocacy group. This Committees primary mission is promoting discussions and awareness about the current strained Russian and Western relations, as well the roots for the cause.[18]

Munk Debate

Cohen participated in a Munk Debate in Toronto, Canada over the proposal "Be it resolved the West should engage not isolate Russia…" He and Vladimir Posner argued in favor of engagement, while Anne Applebaum and Garry Kasparov argued against. Prior the debate, 58 percent of the audience were in favor of engaging with Russia and 42 percent were against. After the debate, 48 percent of the audience were in favor of engaging with Russia and 52 percent were against.[19]

Publications

Books

Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold WarISBN 978-0-231-14897-9 Pub. 2011 by Columbia University Press [with a new epilogue]

Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold WarISBN 978-0-231-14896-2 Pub. 2009 by Columbia University Press